http://www.levantinecenter.org/cultures/central-asia/afghani/middle-east- conference-examines-future-levant-iraq-iran-under-obama-bi
Contact Jordan Elgrably: 310.402.8866 or [email protected] WHITHER THE LEVANT? THE CRISIS OF THE NATION-STATE: LEBANON, ISRAEL, PALESTINE" JAN. 31, 2009, UC IRVINE [Los Angeles, January 14, 2009] Despite decades of armed struggle and diplomacy, Israeli, Palestinian and Lebanese leaders have filed to resolve most political disputes in the region. What will it take? How will conflict in the Middle East be addressed under the new Obama-Biden Administration? More of the status quo, or will U.S. foreign policy in the region differ significantly from the out-going Bush-Cheney Administration? On Saturday, January 31, 2009, a group of scholars and concerned citizens will look at the imminent future in a day-long program of films, panels and a symposium, entitled Whither the Levant? The Crisis of the Nation-State: Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, with authors Asad Abukhalil, Norman G. Finkelstein, Saree Makdisi, Mark LeVine, Lina Haddad Kreidie, Chuck OConnell and Nubar Hovsepian, author of the anthology, The War Lebanon 2006, and Palestinian State Formation: Education and the Construction of National Identity. Also attending is Daniel Levy, Senior Fellow and Director of the Middle East Initiative at the New America Foundation and a Senior Fellow and Director of the Prospects for Peace Initiative at The Century Foundation. During the Barak Government, Daniel Levy worked in the Israeli Prime Minister's Office as special adviser and head of Jerusalem Affairs, following which Daniel worked as senior policy adviser to then Israeli Minister of Justice, Yossi Beilin. In this capacity he was responsible for coordinating policy on various issues including peace negotiations, civil and human rights, and the Palestinian minority in Israel. Daniel was a member of the official Israeli delegation to the Taba negotiations with the Palestinians in January 2001, and previously served on the Israeli negotiating team to the "Oslo B" Agreement from May to September 1995, under Prime Minister Rabin. Organized by Levantine Cultural Center and UC Irvines Middle East Studies Student Initiative, Whither the Levant? will screen the documentary Lebanon Summer 2006 (dir. Cédric Troadec) and premiere Under the Bombs in Orange County. Directed by Philippe Aractingi, Under the Bombs is a feature film and is Lebanons entry in the Best Foreign Film category for this years Oscars. Presented by Levantine Cultural Center and UC Irvines Middle East Studies Student Initiative, the conference is cosponsored by the Center for Global Peace and Conflict Studies at UC Irvine, the American Friends Service Committee, L.A. Jews for Peace, and the Salaam-Shalom Educational Foundation. Conference schedule registration information is available online at levantinecenter.org. Tel. 310.657.5511. Media contact: Jordan Elgrably, 310.402.8866. More Background Using the latest works of authors and filmmakers, Whither the Levant? proposes to examine the imminent future of the Levant, particularly in view of emerging Obama-Biden foreign policy. Looking at the recent history with a measure of pessoptimismto use Arab Israeli author Emile Habibys word scholars, filmmakers and audience members will confer in an environment conducive to intellectual inquiry and constructive debate. While armed conflict continues to rile the Middle East, however, it the conferences contention that military solutions for the regions problems do not work. As such, conference conveners will emphasize pathways to diplomatic, non-violent solutions to the regions problems. Indeed, as the Israeli-Palestinian NGO Combatants for Peace (combatantsforpeace.org) asserts, there are no military solutions to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian crisis, whether in Gaza or in the West Bank. The same may hold true for Lebanon. A panel will also look at emerging foreign policy under Obama-Biden with regard to Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan. Among the books featured during this program is the anthology, The War on Lebanon: A Reader (Olive Branch Press 2007) edited by Dr. Nubar Hovsepian. It is an essential collection of essays on politics and society in the region, international collusion, legal implications, and regional effects. Other books include: The Returns of Zionism: Myths, Politics, and Scholarship in Israel by Gabriel Piterberg Palestine Inside Out: An Everyday Occupation by Saree Makdisi Image and Reality of the Israel-Palestine Conflict & A Farewell to Israel: The Coming Break-up of American Zionism by Norman Finkelstein Why They Dont Hate Us, Unveiling the Axis of Evil and Heavy Metal Islam: Rock, Resistance and the Struggle for the Soul fo Islam by Mark LeVine Palestinian State Formation: Education and the Construction of National Identity by Nubar Hovsepian The films to be screened are: Lebanon Summer 2006, (U.S. 2007) is a documentary directed by Cédric Troadec and produced by Lawrence Joseph, about the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah. The film gives the floor to the Lebanesea strangely original idea, given that they seem to have been forgotten by modern history, and worse, sacrificed in the name of politics not of their making and out of their control. This is not just a simple assessment of the countrys situation after being destroyed by the Israeli military. It is the faithful depiction of the impact of the war on a group of Christian, Sunni and Shia witnesses who lived through the chaos. Under the Bombs directed by Philippe Aractingi (France-Lebanon 2007), stars Nada Abou Farhat as Zeina, a Shiite Muslim woman who sends her young son to live with her sister in southern Lebanon while she goes through a messy divorce back home in Dubai. However, after a round of bombings from Israel, Zeina loses touch with her sister and her son, so she travels to Beirut, hoping to find a taxi driver to take her south. Emotionally engaging, impressively directed and superbly acted drama that uses authentic Lebanon locations to devastating effect. The film has won 21 international awards and is Lebanons entry in this years Oscars in the Best Foreign Film category. # # # ____________________________________________________________ Make your dream home a reality. 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